Pretty sure that my first exposure to a full on legit PTA in Calgary would have been enough. But no- it happened here today in Manhattan, and it was intense. A letter was sent home in the folder. And I thought I needed to do what it said and join the ‘welcome back’ meeting hosted by the PTA.

I shuffled down from kid drop-off too awkwardly early. Surveyed the tables to find out where the front of the cafeteria would actually be, and then sat at the back.
It was actually generally informative and again encouraging, but intense for me. No longer is parenting just something that Brett and I will manage , sometimes well, sometimes actively, sometimes with enthusiasm when we are properly focused and motivated and responsible… With this transition to the age where our first child enters the school community , we too enter this community. From this community we get support and guidance and encouragement. And to this community we now must be accountable in some way…
We’re exposed in a whole new way… Nothing unique, I realize that. But it’s a big transition in my mothering head…
Exposed and challenged and accountable.
So that was this mornings’ realization. Along with Eli adjusting initially much more positively to his new preschool than we’d thought… He continues to surprise us…

This afternoon- the final mission before starting work was to find out how New Yorkers really grocery shop.
I do a full head shake in dismay and take absolute responsibility for this afternoon’s fail…when every article I’ve read talks about this cheese shop, this bakery, this produce market, this butcher… and doesn’t talk about hauling the entire family to Trader Joes’ in the UWS to compare against our neighbourhood Whole Foods ( which is going to bankrupt us), it’s a bad, bad idea. But I was panicked to get kid lunch supplies sorted and dinners for next week sorted. Kid lunches- a new thing, but manageable. Dinners for next week- an entirely un-New York thing to do. I realized both after our disastrous journey. Sigh.

Upon arriving with TWO stupid strollers, because Nora wanted one to push her stuffie and we agreed to it, we found the line up to be an hour long to check out. An hour.

Brett took Eli back on the subway and I decided to walk to another trader joes in Chelsea with Nora in her stroller. 50 blocks. Read- we all needed some space. In NYC. Wow.

I ended up buying beer and wine and mint chocolate ice cream at the original Whole Foods, and we are all on speaking terms again.
Ups and downs…:)